R Jimenez Ortiz, Ivan Solarte Rueda, JC Revelo and MC Cardozo
Incauca S.A., Colombia; rjimenez@incauca.com
Traditionally, the higher heating value of any biomass (bagasse) is determined using bomb calorimetry. This process is lengthy and requires considerable maintenance of the equipment due to combustion reactions. Consequently, the development of a fast and accurate measurement technique would be a useful tool, saving time and resources. Dry sugarcane bagasse samples pulverized to 0.25 mm were used to determine the higher heating value of sugarcane bagasse using NIR spectroscopy. The reference method for the determination of the gross calorific value or higher heating value was ISO 1928 and were made using a PARR 6200 calorimetric bomb in a dynamic mode. Measurements using Vis-NIR and NIR spectroscopy were made using a Buchi Proximate spectrophotometer with a wavelength range from 400-1700 nm and a resolution of 7.0 nm, using the diffuse reflection mode for scanning. Calibration models for Vis-NIR and NIR (only) were developed by applying partial least squares (PLS). The best spectral range for the prediction of caloric power was Vis-NIR as it has a lower SECV (Standard Error of Cross Validation) than the alternative, in addition to having better consistency between predictions.